


Five Times Tony Remembered

by agentsimmons



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5 Times, Friends to Lovers, Light Whump, M/M, Oblivious Tony, POV Pepper Potts, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Feels, Romantic Friendship, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 06:59:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7034713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony tends to forget a lot of things. So when he remembers, there must be a reason. A very important reason. And Pepper's beginning to get the hint that is has nothing to do with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Tony Remembered

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: 9/6/17
> 
> It's been brought to my attention that I was perhaps careless with the implication that Tony doesn't remember things with Pepper because he doesn't care about her and that it borders on ableism since memory conditions are real and very serious and that implication can hurt people who struggle to remember things. This was never my intent, not to that extent anyhow, but I will be reevaluating this fic in the future, time allowing. Until this, please be warned of the content and potential implications. Please take care of yourself and forgive me if you found/find this fic offensive or insensitive. I still have a lot of ways to go in unlearning my own privileges and realizing fiction doesn't exist inside a bubble regardless of how we might headcanon things. It's easier to ignore that for selfish pleasure than it is to proactively consider how it may affect others negatively.

**I.**

Pepper blinked in surprise at the cake that sat in the middle of the conference room. She then did a double take when she realized Tony was actually there for the monthly R&D staff meeting.  He usually only dropped in on the labs when an idea was interesting enough for him to follow up on it personally. He didn't care about status reports or team morale or employee reviews or intern shuffling.

Yet there he was. With a cake.

“What's that?” Pepper asked in regards to the less obvious elephant in the room.

“A blueberry cheesecake,” Tony answered with a grin.

“For the staff meeting?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Obviously. Seemed appropriate.” She looked at the cake again and smiled a little.

“You remembered,” she said in reference to the choice of blueberries instead of strawberries.

“Of course I remembered.” Tony seemed offended.

She opened her mouth to reply when another voice spoke up from slightly behind her.

“Tony, you really didn't have to.”

Pepper furrowed her brow and turned to see Bruce. Tony was up to his feet almost immediately and around the table to greet him, scoffing a little as he did.

“Sure I did,” he said, clapping a hand on Bruce’s opposite shoulder so that his arm was draped casually across his back. Bruce shook his head.

“Well, uh, thank you.”

“Oh, I see.” Pepper suddenly understood. “You've been with the company for six months this week.” He nodded. She offered him a quick word of acclamation and then looked at Tony. “I'm surprised you remembered that.”

“Are you okay this morning, Pep?" Tony looked at her strangely, his hand falling from Bruce’s shoulder. "We already went over this." Pepper blinked, but before she could ask him what he meant his attention was back on Bruce. “Blueberry, Dr. Banner?” He nudged him playfully.

“It's a nice sentiment.” Bruce looked at the cake with a smile that spoke volumes about the gesture.

Tony smiled brightly and Pepper realized the blueberries weren't because she was allergic to strawberries rather because of something to do with Bruce. She bit her lip and briefly wondered what would have happened if Bruce liked strawberries.

 

**II.**

“Morning, Pep,” Tony greeted her breezily as he came into her office.

“ _Afternoon_ , Tony,” she greeted back on habit, but then looked at her clock. “Oh. I guess it is morning. What's so important you actually came to my office before noon?”

She looked back at him and realized he was thrumming with nervous energy. The fingers of both hands were tapping against his thighs.

“Okay, hypothetically, what's something simple - and by that I mean, you know, not flashy and the exact opposite of me - that you would consider a good birthday present?” He made eye contact with her finally.

Pepper’s head wobbled back slightly in confusion. She then looked at the calendar and arched an eyebrow higher than the other.

“You mean Christmas?”

“No, I mean birthday,” he said certainly. She decided to play along if this was his idea of being subtle.

“Simple and opposite of you…” She repeated his original query.

Honestly she was a little surprised he would be into that idea. He usually only just went with the most bizarre or inappropriate or extravagant thing that entered his mind at any given moment. Maybe he was finally learning during their break from one another. Maybe not seeing each other, or anyone else in the mean time as they'd agreed, was what he had needed after all. Honestly she had assumed it would be a last ditch effort to make their ‘stable-ish’ relationship work and hadn't held out much hope.

“Yes,” Tony confirmed.

“Well, hypothetically, I think it would just be nice to have a day without any distractions where we do what _I_ want to do. It's always what you want.” Tony winced.

“Not always.”

“Maybe not intentionally, but you like to assume things, Tony. Just because a spontaneous flight to Paris is romantic and something you think I would enjoy, doesn't necessarily mean it's something I want to do right then and there. Maybe I don't want to go to Paris at all. Or maybe I really do,” she added. “The point is you have to ask me. You don't have to always be the one in control, Tony.”

“So what you're saying is a day of going anywhere or doing anything so long as I ask and it's what he wants.”

“Yes,” Pepper said definitely before she processed the ‘he’ part of his statement.

“Well," he said and strode towards the door, "wish me luck. I'll probably end up at some weird wilderness retreat where all we do is naked yoga." His eyes widened as he stopped in the doorway. "Actually, that doesn't sound half bad. Thanks, Pep," he said and hurried out of the office.

Pepper sat there for several long moments wondering what had just happened. Wilderness retreat? Naked yoga? Suddenly her stomach lurched with a hunch. She closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly.

"JARVIS."

"Yes, Ms. Potts?"

"Who does Tony know that has a birthday soon?"

"Dr. Banner's birthday is this Wednesday," the AI answered. JARVIS then added with a lilt, "I too was alarmed that he remembered a birthday without prompting."

Pepper wasn't sure how to respond.

 

**III.**

"Can you confirm the last four digits of your social security for me?"

Pepper winced and took a quick step forward to explain that Tony Stark did not confirm his social security to anyone. She had about 2.5 seconds to speak up before the dumbstruck look on Tony's face gave away that he didn't have the slightest clue. Then it would be a matter of damage control, which was always a p/r nightmare.

"Wait…" Pepper's brain suddenly processed what had just happened while she'd been in the throes of panic. "Did you just…" She studied Tony hard and he looked at her with a smile.

"Proud?" He sounded a little cheeky as she stood there still blinking at him.

"I don’t understand," she said honestly.

"Oh, you know," he said with a shrug. "Bruce helped."

"What do you mean Bruce helped?" She scrunched her face.

"I was asked to confirm my social at that conference we went to a few months back," he explained. "It was a little embarrassing when I had to admit to him I didn't know it. He said that made no sense for a genius who knows as many numeric strings as I do."

"He's not wrong," Pepper said tentatively. She'd always wondered a little herself.

"Yeah, when he put it that way it sort of clicked. We spent a whole evening memorizing it. Well, he felt a little bad at memorizing it, but I told him you knew it too and that I trust he won't try to steal my identity or anything," he finished with a laugh. "You know, as it turns out it wasn't so hard to remember when I found out there's a cool correlation between some of the digits and the date Bruce published his thesis on antielectron collision."

He continued to ramble as Pepper mulled over the situation. She supposed it was a good thing Bruce had finally gotten it through to Tony the importance of knowing his own social security number, but something about it gave her pause. Actually, everything about it gave her pause.

 

**IV.**

"Every year," Pepper ranted and looked at her phone for the time. "Every year he forgets about the shareholders meeting. I don't know if he does it because it's convenient or if it's because he forgets every other meeting." She tapped her pen nervously on the tabletop as the large conference room filled with one person after another.

"There's still time," Bruce said beside her. "I told him this morning at breakfast so there's no way he could possibly have forgotten already." Pepper scrunched her face and stopped tapping her pen.

"You don't know, Tony," Pepper mumbled. She also wondered a little at how often the two men shared breakfast together. Lunch and dinner she could see, but you'd think they couldn't spend more than a few hours away from each other. Unless they weren't sleeping at all and holed up in the lab or workshop, she considered.

"No, I do," Bruce said with a chuckle. "And I'm saying there's no way he could have forgotten so if he doesn't show up it's because he wasn't listening in the first place or he's intentionally ignoring the meeting."

"So you're saying if he doesn't show up it's pretty strong evidence for my hypothesis he does it because it's convenient?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"More or less," Bruce replied with a hitch of his shoulder.

However it wasn't more than a moment after Bruce had shared his two-cents that the genius billionaire in question was suddenly standing behind him with hands playfully over Bruce's eyes. Rather than startle, the physicist smiled knowingly.

"Guess who?" Tony quizzed.

"Hmm," Bruce pretended to be thoughtful. "Reed Richards?" Tony gasped melodramatically and let his hands fall. Bruce tilted his head back to look up at him with a goofy smile.

"See, told you I wouldn't forget," Tony returned his smile as he sat down in the seat beside Bruce. "You didn't believe me did you?"

"You might be surprised," Bruce answered simply.

Pepper could only sit there in slight shock. She certainly wouldn't have been so sure in Bruce's shoes. Five minutes more and she would have just sent him a text or to JARVIS to remind him. Then again that was because track record suggested he didn't listen to her or else never remembered anything important in correlation to her. As the two men continued to joke and banter before the start of the meeting realization began to sink in.

 

**V.**

Pepper was on her way to the lab to ask Bruce if he'd seen Tony. Apparently the bank was trying to get hold of Tony, but the genius had set JARVIS to mute all incoming calls and screen them to Pepper instead – as if she was still his assistant she thought with a roll of her eyes – with the exception of emergencies. Pepper was fairly certain somebody making a purchase of two thousand or so dollars worth of flowers was an emergency, but JARVIS disagreed.

She entered her access code and was about to announce herself when she caught sight of both geniuses and stopped dead in her tracks. Bruce had a bouquet of flowers in hand and he was staring dumbly back and forth between them and Tony. The only logical explanation here was that Tony _had_ bought flowers and had been the one to give them to Bruce for some reason.

"You…" Bruce stammered and it sounded like he was close to crying. Pepper furrowed her brow at that. "You remembered?"

"Of course I remembered," Tony said and took a few steps forward. "She was your mother."

The tone in his voice and the tender way he looked at Bruce told her exactly where this was headed. It had been headed there for months. Maybe even before she and Tony had decided to take a break in their dating relationship. The absolutely enamored expression on Bruce's face as he looked back told her he wanted this too. Neither of them seemed to even realize she was there and she started to take a few steps back as she considered her options.

"Tony…" Bruce was definitely crying now. "Thank you," he said. "She would have loved them."

"Which is kind of why I was thinking we should take them to her," Tony said tentatively and Pepper stopped again, eyes widening. "I already scheduled the jet just in case you say yes and had a few flowers sent ahead just in case you say no. It's entirely up to you." He hitched a shoulder and took another step forward.

There was no space left between them and even that didn't seem close enough for the two men as they slowly leaned in, eyes closing and lips meeting so naturally that they couldn't have fought it if they'd tried. Any hesitance there might have been was seemingly forgotten as Tony reached out to draw Bruce even closer and Bruce wrapped his arms around Tony's neck, flowers still in one hand.

Tears prickled Pepper's eyes and her heart constricted as the two men got lost in one another. It was beautiful, but she wasn't sure what to feel. If she'd had any hope of having something with Tony, it was completely gone now. She'd had a growing suspicion regarding the two men's friendship, but seeing it culminate like this was almost more than she could process. Should she be bitter? Should she be angry? Jealous? Resigned? Accepting?

She decided she should probably just leave the lab before they realized she was there. She turned to do so and had taken a few steps when she heard a gasp and –

"Pepper," Bruce said. She turned quickly, thinking she was caught, but to her surprise they still weren't looking her way. "Pepper, I… I can't do this to Pepper," Bruce said.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked in confusion and Bruce scowled a little.

"I won't let you cheat on Pepper. No matter how much…" He couldn't seem to finish, just turned his back in self-restraint. Pepper had to admit she was glad to know Bruce had thought of her at least… even if not until after kissing Tony like his life depended on it.

"Pepper and I aren't together," Tony said, still clearly confused. "We broke up ages ago."

"No, Tony, you're on a _break_ with Pepper," Bruce corrected, spinning to look at him again dubiously. "That's what you said. And a break implies you hope to get back together."

As with everything, Pepper wasn't surprised that this detail had been overlooked by Tony. He probably wouldn't have forgotten that detail if it was Bruce. Maybe that's why she wasn't even rattled by what Tony confessed next. Maybe that's why she settled on resignation.

"But… I don't want to be with her, Bruce," he whispered and Bruce looked at him like might either cry or spontaneously combust – there really wasn't any in between. Tony took a step forward and met Bruce's gaze intently. "I want to be with _you_. I'll tell her before we go. If you want to go that is. If you want to be with me."

"Of course I want to go," Bruce said, closing his eyes tightly and leaning his head forward. Tony matched his movement until their foreheads touched. "And how can you even wonder?"

Pepper swallowed the lump in her throat, the lump of mixed emotions, and bowed out. She left the lab as quietly as she came and decided she might as well take the initiative. She returned to her office and sat down in her chair with a sigh.

"JARVIS, I want you to give Tony the following message. And I think he'll agree it's worth overriding the mute protocol."

"If you insist, Ms. Potts," JARVIS complied.

"Tell him," she considered her words, "tell him that I'm heading out to L.A. to oversee things there for a while. And let him know that I've been thinking… with that kind of distance and with other obstacles, it's best we call it quits definitely. I want to try meeting new people." She bit her lip. "And tell him I'm not blind. He should go for it with Dr. Banner. That's all, JARVIS."

"Yes, Ms. Potts," JARVIS intoned. "I agree with your assessment that Tony will be particularly interested in this message."

"Oh. One more thing," she added with quick determination. "Let him know the bank called concerned about a recent purchase, but from now on I won't be screening his calls. He'll need to find someone else to do it. I have a company to run."

**Author's Note:**

> I adore Pepper, honestly! But every now an then I feel a little Pepper-whumpy. Tbh though I didn't know this was going to turn into a Pepper-POV with light whump.


End file.
